A drilling jar in an oil and gas drilling operation or fishing operation includes a control unit having one or more transceivers configured to communicate wirelessly with a surface control unit. The control unit is configured to receive an activation signal from the surface control unit, and cause to activate the drilling jar in response to the activation signal. The wireless transceivers may communicate using any wireless communication technology, including but not limited to Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi Direct, and BLE. A method for operating a drilling jar includes receiving, by a control unit comprising one or more transceivers configured to communicate wirelessly with a surface control unit, an activation signal from the surface control unit, and causing to activate the drilling jar in response to the activation signal.